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| P2 At Albany Again |
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| :: Posted by Sid Smith on Mon., Feb 20, 2012 |
My thanks to J Eric Smith for sending in this marvelous review of P2 playing Albany. You can hear the gig that Eric is writing about here.
Eric writes "I was a music critic (for better or worse) in Albany, New York for many years. My wife and I recently relocated to Des Moines, Iowa, and as part of launching a web presence in my new home community, I have been reviewing old archives of my work for items that might lend themselves to new purposes. I found a ProjeKCt Two live review (copied below) while digging through old floppy discs and files, and thought I would share it here, since I have not seen many other formal newsprint reviews from that era posted here. It was a lovely show, one that I still cite as one of my all-time favorite live performances.
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ProjeKct Two
Valentine’s Music Hall, Albany, New York, May 8, 1998
Copyright 1998, J. Eric Smith (Originally appeared in Metroland, The Alternative Newsweekly of Northeastern New York)
"OK, now we’ve played everything we don’t know,so we can play something that we actually do know," announced electronic drummer Adrian Belew at the end of ProjeKct Two’s second all-instrumental, all-improvised set. Belew, 10-string Warr guitarist Trey Gunn and electric six-string guitarist Robert Fripp then encored with King Crimson’s "Vrooom," an angular number originally created by Fripp, Belew, Gunn and their Crimson bandmates Tony Levin, Bill Bruford and Pat Mastelotto.
As nice as it was to hear "Vrooom," the true value of the encore was to place the evening’s improvisational extravaganza in context by providing a single sample of how ProjeKct Two sounded when tackling a fully developed and structured instrumental piece. Frankly speaking, the encore paled in comparison to the 90 minutes of music preceding it, as its rehearsed complexities and nuances were nowhere near as impressive as the knotty, towering sound collages that ProjeKct Two created on the fly as the rapt audience watched and listened.
Fripp, Belew and Gunn were watching and listening to each other as well, and much of the thrill of this concert came from witnessing the interactions between these deeply talented musicians who have played together long enough to anticipate each other’s thoughts, sometimes before they eve realize that they’ve had them. Belew or Fripp typically opened each number with a drum or guitar pattern that the other musicians would would investigate, mount and ride, sometimes to loud and uplifting summits, sometimes to quiet, scary grottoes, sometimes back to the point at which they started. It was actually harrowing to experience in many cases, as the trio careened just on this side of control as they rode, the looks on their faces indicating that it was just as thrilling (and frightening) for them as it was their audience.
As important as technical prowess was to the concert’s success, mention must also be made of ProjeKct Two’s technological proficiancy. Belew was playing the latest generation of Roland virtual drums, allowing him to create a seemingly infinite number of sonic assaults as he clattered and rattled along with a look-Ma-I’ve-got drums grin on his face. (Understandable, given that he’s normally a guitarist.) Gunn matched Belew’s rhythmic and textural intensity as he tapped, stroked and and beat the touchboard of his Warr guitar.
Fripp spun out any number of his trademark spine-tingling sustained guitar lines but also used the treatment technology he has developed over the years via his Soundscape and Frippertronic performance experiments to create a wealth of tones and intonations. At times, the bands’ sounds were so far skewed from what your eyes were reporting to your brain that it was almost psychologically easier to look at the floor and imagine that Fripp was playing cluster chords on some beaten-up jazz-hall piano while Gunn blew on a baritone sax and Belew kept time by tapping on whisky bottles and ashtrays. Crazy, man, crazy.
All told, ProjeKct Two’s concert was a magnificent one, and I must confess to feeling great relief in being able to report that. Why? Because Robert Fripp’s written and recorded works have done more to shape both how I listen to and how I think about music than have any other artist’s over the last two decades, although I never actually stood in the same space with Fripp until last Friday. So imagine the potential for debilitating disappointment at this show, and then imagine the transcendent relief and joy when it didn’t come to pass. It literally moved me to tears. And how often can a wordless concert do that?"
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In Deep With Tony Levin
:: Posted by Sid Smith on Fri., Jan 25, 2013
Check out this new interview with Tony Levin where he discusses the making of the latest album from Stick Men, Deep. Tony is currently at the NAMM show as documented on his diary. You'll also find concert dates in March for the Crimson Project over on the front page.
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Andrew Keeling's Festival Appearance
:: Posted by Sid Smith on Fri., Jan 25, 2013
Andrew Keeling's work, Reclaiming Eros, will be performed at the Two Rivers Festival taking place in Birkenhead on February 8th. You can find out more about the event and festival by taking a look here. Andrew's is a keen walker and gets out despite the rather grim weather experienced recently in the UK. Check out his diary for some great photographs taken while out and about in Andrew's beloved Lake District. Elsewhere in Keeling world you can take a look at this page about his recent collaboration with Robert Fripp, The Wine Of Silence.
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LTIA Voted Best 2012 Reissue
:: Posted by Sid Smith on Thu., Jan 24, 2013
LTIA was voted best reissue of 2012 in Prog magazine readers' poll beating the likes of ELP, Jethro Tull, Pink Floyd and Peter Gabriel. In the same poll, Gavin Harrison was voted best drummer of the year and in what seems to be an ongoing annual occurence, Steven Wilson (who produced the new stereo and 5.1 mixes of LTIA) was voted prog Icon of 2012. Steven is once again featured in this month's edition with an extensive article on his new album, The Raven That Refused To Sing (And Other Stories) which of course features contributions from Theo Travis.
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King Crimson: Never Heard Of Them!
:: Posted by Sid Smith on Thu., Jan 24, 2013
My thanks to HueyDL for pointing me towards this piece in which someone who’s never heard of KC gets to grapple with ITCOTCK for the first time. Check it out here.
Elsewhere on the wide-open savannah of the interweb, a different take on ITCOTCK can be found here.
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Fripp In The Guardian
:: Posted by Sid Smith on Fri., Jan 18, 2013
The Guardian are now carrying a correction and clarification to their story that Robert had turned down an invitation to play on David Bowie's forthcoming album, The Next Day. Check it out here.
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Fripp: I Didn't Leak Bowie Album
:: Posted by Sid Smith on Fri., Jan 18, 2013
One of the sites reporting "Robert Fripp Leaked Bowie Secret" is today carrying a correction. Check it out here.
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Fripp Didn't Leak Bowie Secret
:: Posted by Sid Smith on Thu., Jan 17, 2013
Robert Fripp has commented upon the recent news stories circulating on the internet about his supposed leaking of that David Bowie was working on a new album. You can read Robert's response here.
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NYCNY Live
:: Posted by Sid Smith on Thu., Jan 17, 2013
My thanks to Wilbert and Spingere who point out that there's a cracking version of NYCNY by Daryl Hall and Seattle outfit, Minus The Bear in the current episode of Live From Daryl's House. The track was featured on Hall's Fripp-produced debut solo album, Sacred Songs but, as Hall explains in the episode, has never been performed live. You can see the whole thing here.
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The Great Deceiver Circle
:: Posted by Sid Smith on Tue., Jan 15, 2013
On their recent European jaunt earlier this week The Guitar Circle of Europe performed several KC tracks. This is their interpretation of The Great Deceiver.
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Brian Eno Talks
:: Posted by Sid Smith on Tue., Jan 15, 2013
Here's an interesting video wherein Brian Eno talks about creativity and how if you wait for inspiration you might well miss the boat.
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